Mobilising the dead? The place of bones and corpses in the commemoration of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda

Abstract

Representations of Rwanda have been shaped by the display of bodies and bones at Tutsi genocide memorial sites. This phenomenon is most often only studied from the perspective of moral dimensions. This article aims in contrast to cover the issues related to the treatment of human remains in Rwanda for commemorative purposes from a historical perspective. To this end, it is based on the archives of the commissions in charge of genocide memory in Rwanda, as well as interviews with key memorial actors. This study shows the evolution of memorial practices since 1994 and the hypermateriality of bodies in their use as symbols, as well as their demobilisation for the purposes of reconciliation policies.

Imagining genocide heritage: Material modes of development and preservation in Rwanda

“…‘Memorial sites prove that genocide happened and whoever visits these sites acquires firsthand information on what really happened and it would be hard for anyone to mislead them thereafter’, then-Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi once stated at a commemoration event (Mbonyinshuti, 2017). The desire to prove that genocide happened, educate visitors, and inoculate the population against genocide ideology is strong enough that, despite protest against the display of human remains, the incongruity of such display with Rwandan cultural practices, and the distress it causes some survivors, the Rwandan government persists in maintaining these exhibitions (Korman, 2015; Vidal, 2004).…”

“…While acting as places of mourning and commemoration, they are also deeply involved in the RPF’s politics of memory and identity (Jessee, 2017; Korman, 2013), especially through promoting official narratives about the genocide while suppressing unofficial ones (King, 2010; Longman, 2017: 65–90). The official histories promulgated at these sites are sometimes resisted, including by survivors (Ibreck, 2010), and their use of human remains has also been contested (Korman, 2015). But they maintain a powerful position in Rwanda, not least in international terms: they host international diplomats, dignitaries, and tourists (Giblin, 2017), and some were developed with notable international input (Ibreck, 2013).…”

“…So, while the renovations were indeed a significant shift, they also continued to move the memorial in the same direction as it had already been heading. The commitment to providing ‘burial with dignity’ for many of the victims (Korman, 2015; Major, 2015), rather than allowing their remains to be exposed and scattered, as much as practical efforts to ensure favorable conditions for material preservation, spurred these changes.…”

Of other times: Temporality, memory and trauma in post-genocide Rwanda

“… 8. A somewhat different picture is offered in more recent works such as Ibreck (2012); see also Korman (2015) and Major (2015). …”

The Truth (?) of Wartime Rape: Memory, Form, and Meaning in Helke Sander’s Liberators Take Liberties and Wojciech Tochman’s Today We’re Going to Draw Death

“…5. Analyzing memorialization practices in postgenocide Rwanda, Korman (2015) distinguishes between the so-called "dignified burial" of the victims (pp. 57-58) and the exhibitions of bodies as the perpetual "material evidence of genocide" (p. 60).…”